#David Peterson’s shoulder issue reason for early Mets exit

David Peterson was sitting at 74 pitches when the fifth inning concluded Thursday and had mowed through the Nationals lineup. But his day was finished.

The Mets rookie, dealing with shoulder fatigue, was removed and watched the bullpen protect the lead for his third victory in four starts.

“It’s just a matter of trying to manage some of the workload,” Peterson said after the Mets beat the Nationals 8-2 at Citi Field. “All the pitches in the big leagues mean a lot more than they do in live games or minor league games, so it just has been a matter of trying to manage the workload and see what works.”

Peterson indicated the soreness behind his left shoulder wasn’t a concern. He didn’t allow his first hit until the fifth inning and was impressive in escaping a first-inning jam, with minimal damage.

Starlin Castro had walked to load the bases with nobody out before Peterson struck out Juan Soto, who had homered four times in the previous two games.

“I think my approach is to get a strikeout there,” Peterson said. “That is kind of what we need to get one out and then try to get a double play to end the inning. For me it’s not giving them anything to hit.”

Howie Kendrick’s RBI fielder’s choice put Peterson in a 1-0 hole before Jeff McNeil smashed into the left-field fence after robbing Asdrubal Cabrera of two certain RBIs. McNeil departed the field on a cart and was later diagnosed with a bone contusion in the left knee.

“The defense is always solid behind us, and a catch like that to get me out of a jam like that was huge,” Peterson said. “At first it was just ‘great catch’ and a lot of times when guys hit the wall they are not the quickest to get up, so once he was down for a while guys were starting to think something might be wrong.”

Peterson (3-1) joined Steven Matz and Jason Jacome as the only pitchers in franchise history to win three of their first four starts in the major leagues.